Hardware and electronics
Insurance for hardware and electronics companies
Manufacturers, distributors, and wholesalers of technology products and components. Products, recall, and the services you sell alongside them.
Where product risk lands
Import: You may be treated as the manufacturer
Your warehouse: Configuration work: E&O exposure
Customer: Recall cost: typically excluded under GL
Products, recall, and the services you sell alongside them each need their own answer.
Who this is for
Manufacturers, distributors, and wholesalers of tech products and components.
First look
Products liability, foreign-sourced product, recall, and configuration work.
Where programs go wrong
Four places a hardware and electronics program usually comes up short
Products liability limits
A device that overheats, fails, or damages property brings a products claim. Your limits need to match what distributors and retail partners require, not just what you bought last year.
Foreign-sourced product
If you import, you can be treated as the manufacturer when an overseas supplier can't be reached. Your program should account for that, and supplier agreements should require their own insurance.
Recall
General liability typically excludes the cost of pulling your own product off the market. Recall needs its own coverage.
Configuration and integration work
Setting up, configuring, or integrating what you sell is a professional service. That's E&O exposure a products policy won't answer.
Coverage that matters most
- General and products liability
- Product recall
- Technology E&O
- Property and stock
- Cargo and transit
- International
Common questions
Does general liability cover a product recall?
Usually not. GL policies typically exclude the cost of withdrawing your own product. Recall coverage is a separate policy or endorsement.
What if our products are made overseas?
As the importer, you can end up answering for claims the overseas manufacturer can't be reached for. The program should be built with that in mind, and IOA has an international team for exposure outside the U.S.
Do hardware companies need technology E&O?
If you configure, install, integrate, or support what you sell, often yes. Products coverage answers for bodily injury and property damage, not the financial loss a customer says your service caused.
Get a straight read on your program
A 30-minute call and a one-page findings summary. No quote request, no obligation to move anything.
One useful read a month
Contracts, coverage, and risk for technology company owners and CFOs. No fluff.